Heavenly Fruit Date Muffins
As a youngster growing up, I was extremely active in gymnastics, so I didn’t have to worry about small nuisances like calories. Thus, after school, it became my routine to go to a local muffin shop in our little downtown. This popular spot had the most heavenly fruit date muffins, a quick bread filled with carrots, pineapple, raisins, and coconut. Sadly, the muffin store has long closed shop, so decades later, I set out to recreate a muffin that fit my memory. Still, I took a little creative license, adding orange fruit for zing and dates, plus, honey for a shot of sweetness. What resulted was unlike the muffin of my youth, but its subtle flavors have grown on me, as I love it in its own right!
Ingredients
- 6 T. vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ t. vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup honey
- ½ cup raisins, preferably, golden
- ½ cup pitted dates, like Medjool’s
- 1 ½ cup grated carrots
- 6 oz. fresh or canned pineapple, drained
- ½ cup diced fruit of an orange, with its juices
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut
- 1 ½ t. baking soda
- 1 t. cinnamon
- ½ t. kosher salt
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Step 2 Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and honey to the raisins and let the raisins soak in the liquid, rehydrating until they are plump. Then, chop the dates into ¼” pieces and add to the raisins in the same mixing bowl. Stir well, mixing the honey and breaking up any clumps of dates. Next, grate the carrots with a grater—not a peeler—which I made the mistake of doing my first go around. Last, add the carrots, pineapple, and orange fruit to the same mixing bowl. *Tip: drain off the juice from the pineapple but include the juices of the orange.
- Step 3 Measure out the cinnamon, baking soda, flour, coconut, pecans, and salt. Add them to a large, separate mixing bowl. Mix well.
- Step 4 Now, mix the dry ingredients from step 3 into the ingredients from step 2, two steps at a time. Incorporate well. The dough should be sticky.
- Step 5 Lastly, grease a 12-cup muffin pan and fill each tin close to the rim with a scoopful of dough. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Check 17 or 18 minutes into baking. Timing depends on your oven temperature. Mine were ready at 21 minutes. Enjoy!
My Heavenly Fruit Date Muffins are not only delicious, but they are free of refined sugar, adding molasses, dates, and honey for a shot of sweetness. My recipe also adds a twist of orange zest for zing, along with the traditional ingredients of carrots, pineapple, raisin, and coconut.